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Sunday, March 11, 2018

The Times of Israel - Putin suggests ‘Jews with Russian citizenship’ behind US election interference

Russian president 'couldn't care less' if his citizens involved in efforts to influence 2016 vote, says actions cannot be tied to Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the NBC network over the weekend that Russians who sought to influence the results of the 2016 presidential elections could have been “Jews, but with Russian citizenship.”

In the interview, a full transcript of which was released by the Kremlin on Saturday, the Russia president said “I do not care at all, because they do not represent the government.

“Maybe they are not even Russians, but Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews, but with Russian citizenship, which should also be checked; maybe they have dual citizenship or a green card; maybe the US paid them for this. How can you know that? I do not know either,” he said.

Putin insisted such efforts could not be tied to the Kremlin.

“Could anyone really believe that Russia, thousands of miles away… influenced the outcome of the election? Doesn’t that sound ridiculous even to you?” Putin asked.